Recipes
Beet Pappardelle with Herbes de Provence
Use your extra hour of daylight savings time to make pasta from scratch! It is a labor of love, and what's not to love about hand made pappardelle. These wide, fat noodles are not fussy. Just fold the pasta sheets like an accordion and slice off the strips. For a little extra love, we've added beet powder to the pasta dough for delightful color and a hint of earthy sweetness. This vibrant powder is so user friendly compared to fresh beets! You can get the delightful color and flavor without the beet-bloodbath that comes from the fresh vegetable, and without the extra water in the pasta dough, it is less finicky. To further embrace spring flavors, we tossed the noodles in a light sauce with Herbes de Provence. The taste of garden herbs like tarragon and thyme, pair perfectly with caramelized fennel and garlic for an aromatic sauce. Garnish your mound of pasta with some crumbly sheep's milk cheese for some tang that compliments the earthy beet noodles and bright spring flavors.
Learn more
Floral Sonnets Martini
Enjoy an ice cold sip of summer! This tantalizing martini is made with a splash of our Floral Sonnets tea, which gives it amazing color and taste. This tea blend features chamomile, honeybush, ginger, cinnamon, lavender, and damiana. Together, the flowers and herbs accentuate the botanical flavors in the gin, and the result is to die for.To pair with the gin and tea, we used Lillet rosé in place of the usual dry vermouth. For a finishing touch, we also added a bit of limoncello to add a bit of citrus-y sweetness. This martini is refreshing and tastes as lovely as it sounds.
Learn more
Pepper and Spruce Tip Dirty Martini
The dirty martini, made by adding olive brine to the traditional recipe, is a well-loved twist on a classic cocktail. For a twist on a twist, we created this concoction which uses pickled spruce tips in addition to the usual garnish.To pickle the spruce tips, we used an infusion of Green Peppercorn, Black Vietnamese Peppercorn, and Long Pepper. The combination adds a spicy and savory punch to the natural flavor of the spruce tips. With so many strong flavors at play, it made sense to opt for a vodka martini over gin, to avoid adding the intensity of juniper to the mix.The final result is a bold martini that combines woody aromatics with rich briny notes and a slight peppery bite. Give it a try!
Learn more
Spring Spaghetti with Dukkah Creme Fraiche
Plan ahead to create this spectacular Spring Spaghetti, because it is worth the wait! The crème fraîche takes a day and a half to culture, so patience is required, but whether you make it for yourself, make it for Mother's Day or just make it for fun, once you do, it will become a decadent staple. Dukkah is an Egyptian spice blend with marjoram and thyme mixed with lightly toasted cumin and coriander. The spices are combined with chopped hazelnuts. The complex flavors and texture infuse the crème fraîche and perfectly complement the spaghetti and spring vegetables. Once you have the crème fraîche, this pasta is fast and easy to make and full of seasonal flavor!
Learn more
Lavender Dulce de Leche Stuffed Crepes
We love an excuse to eat dessert any time of day. These decadent crepes are bursting with spring flavors, and look amazing on a brunch buffet. Each crepe is stuffed full of Lavender Dulce de Leche. French Lavender is bright, floral and woodsy; it's best with assertive flavors. To complement it, we spiked the batter with Moroccan Meyer Lemon Paste, and ran it through a blender. You can do this the night before for a breezy morning. Tastes like spring is here!
Learn more
Rhubarb Compote with Indian Coriander Cream
To me, one of the true harbingers of spring is the sight of my rhubarb leaves tentatively reaching up towards the sun. Soon, I know they’ll be producing non-stop throughout the summer, and whatever I can’t use fresh will go straight into the freezer. This recipe is a great way to use the ruby-red stalks, whether fresh or frozen. And the Coriander Cream, made by infusing freshly ground Indian Coriander Seed seed into heavy whipping cream, has an insanely addictive taste. Using the seeds un-toasted reveals their delicate citrusy flavor, which blossoms throughout the cream. There are endless ways to serve this modern take on the classic Rhubarb and Custard dessert: it can be served on top of a tender biscuit, shortcake style, layered into a trifle with a vanilla sponge cake, or spooned straight up in a small bowl with an Orange Pistachio biscotti alongside for crunch. One further note: since rhubarb is very acidic, it should not be cooked in a metal pan, such as cast iron or aluminum, since the acid will react with the metal and cause the rhubarb to become discolored and off-tasting.
Learn more
Orange Tarragon Halibut with Honey en Papillote
The opening of halibut season is a rite of spring in the Pacific Northwest and always brings the excitement of fresh wild bounty. You can do just about anything with halibut, and I've done many, being a huge fan of the fish. It's willing to accept a wide range of flavor, it's meaty and tender while not overly fishy and you can pan-fry, grill, plank or poach it. But this year I've found the best preparation ever, and I love it when seemingly fancy or fussy things turn out to be easy and totally worth it. Such is the case with cooking "en papillote" or "in parchment". These magical little packets create an effective steam chamber that drives a world of flavor INTO this fabulous fish. The packets are easy to make, especially if you are experienced cutting hearts out of folded pieces of paper. Even if you're not, the easy instructions in this Serious Eats article will help you get the hang of it.For this recipe we paired Orange Tarragon Compound Butter with honey and a squeeze of Meyer Lemon. The flavors combine effortlessly both in the packet and on the tongue. Dinner was ready in under half an hour start to finish and the flavor pairings were sensational. Serve with fresh vegetables and a nice white wine for an easy breezy spring dinner.
Learn more
Pakhlava
Did you know that we are one of the few spice shops in the U.S. that carry Georgian spice blends? We love our Georgian blends, and Georgian food is so delicious! We are thrilled to feature a recipe from Olia Hercules' cookbook Kaukasis: A Culinary Journey through Georgia, and continue to revisit these amazing recipes. Full of stunning photographs evocative of the region, this book is a celebration, weaving personal narratives and recipes for a little known cuisine that combines European and Middle Eastern ingredients in ways that are fresh, new, and totally unexpected. Olia Hercules will take you on a culinary journey unlike any other. If you liked Mamushka, her Ukranian cookbook, you will love this book.From the author: "Pakhlava is a festive dish made for Novruz, the traditional celebration of the coming of spring in Azerbaijan, but it’s rarely prepared at home, since nuts are expensive and making thin pastry is rather laborious. However, it is a gorgeous thing, and if you like baking and making something new, this is a great way to spend an afternoon, especially if you are cooking with your loved ones. The recipe makes enough to last you a couple of weeks and to package up into gift boxes for friends and family."
Learn more
